Trip rope safety release



Sept. 20, 1949. D. L. DEEMS ET AL TRIP ROPE SAFETY RELEASE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 7, 1948 Inventors Delmar L Deems Max H. Welsh P 1949::- D. L. DEEMS ET AL v 2,482,538

TRIP ROPE SAFETY RELEASE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v Filed June 7, 1948 26 lug/enters De/mar L. Deems 52 Max .v Welsh WW 191M3 Patented Sept. 20, 1949 "IJJ-Ni'T EiD mar-am.

'Dlmarlfilleems, 'Blanilinsville, and :Max H. 'lWelshJSciOta, 2H1.

' 'A siicanonl ne'i, 1948,"Seiial1No.-31,593 i "Thist'mvention comprisesinovel :and'useffulri nmovements in a trip rope safety release, and more specifically ;pertains'to "a novel attachment for automatically disengagin 'and releasing the "triprope of an agricultural -implement fromits attachment with a "portion of a ftraotor, when the towing connection between "the tractor and im ilement is released, to prevent accidental breaking of 'the 'tripzrope.

'The primary object'of this invention is to prowide :a yieldable coupling for "supporting a trip rope and :attaehing the "same to a portion of a tractor, which "coupling automatically releasable when a, predetermined "tension has been "applied t ereto.

*Afurther "object of the'inventionris to "provide 'ameans formaintaining a 'constant tensionupon a trip rop'ese'cured 'to the releasable couplingtre- *ferredttoin the'preceding'paragraph.

An *important feature of the invention comprehends .the provision of a detachable, releasable "coupling secured to aportion of atractor,

I s 'Gldims. (omenieu) "together with a'pulley'swivelled'totliiscoupling "m .conibination with a *triprr'op'e entrained "over the pulley and a' weight secured f'tothe "trip"rope for maintaining a predetermined tension upon 7 "the same.

Yet another feature of the invention "includes the provision 'of the mechanism set "forth in-.the

preceding ,"paragraph, together with means "whereby, upon disengagement of "the tractor from :the implement, the increasing "tension in "the trip "rope "will cause contact "or :the weight thereof with the pulley,*.and .upon the attainment er apred-etermiued:rninimum tension will cause actuation 'of the safety .releasedio uncouple the trip rope from'thetractor 'andtherehygprevent accidental breakage of "the same.

These, together with various "ancillary features and objects of the invention which will later become apparent *as the following description proceeds, are attained Joy-.thi-s-device, a preferred embodiment of which has 'been illustrated, by

mayuaf :exampl'e onlygin the aceompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is .a .fragmentary :side :elevational view showing a portion of a tractor, of an agricultural implement detachably coupled thereto, -togeti'ier ttrip rope release mechanism and a sa'fety zrlease in:accordance with this invention' apnlied thereto;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view upon an enlarged scale of the construction of the esaiety release, together with the rooperating portions of the trip rope, in accordance with ;the principles of this invention, the "position .of the ,parts being indicated "in their normal ar- 'rangement during conventional operation nftlte tractor andtheumnlement'btowed thereby;

Figure :5 'a viewr-s'irnilarttoFigure'hbut" snowing the parts in position "where ithenormall t'ensioniupon the trip rope has been -exceedeizl, the safety release has been distended :lrito iits'f're- 'leasingiposition; I v

Figure 4 is ta view similar towigure "but illustrating the -corrinlete opening (if ithe release pin of the safety device 'atter actuation of the me;

Figure *5 "is a topiplanview snowing thecon- .struction of the release fin the Tnofiition "ofFigure 2'; and

Figure 6 isa bottom *plan View of the safety release, parts "being broken away and omitted 'to indicate "more clearly the "arrangement 61 *the release the guide fp'in, 'an'dthe eye .meinoerftogether with thedeifitte. I

Referringnow more specificalIytoth-e'aooompa'nylng "drawings, whereiniike numerals designate similar parts throughout 'the 'variousu iews, attention :iwdirected .first to Figure 1 wherein the snap fastening the'SDTingiof 'f the -nunreral FLO designates -aportion of "a tramtor which may [be of any suitable -constructi'on row, one or the sprin Tharrow teeth "being indicated by "the numeral 20. In accordance with customary usage, the barrow teeth are pivoted "to the :fimplen'rent "by a release mechanism Sin "dicated' generally oy' the numeral 22, whereby Whenthe tool, such as thejlow or -the-spring tooth, encounters an obstacle :or obstruction vLin "-the'so'llfithe increased res'isftancefimparted rto .the

tool causes "actuation of the releas mechanism 22 to ,permit .the tool to yield against the iresistanceimp'osed byfthe trip .rope 1B .and release lever M. In accordance'with conventional prac- Ftice, the 'trip rope 2B "is customarily secured Zto "anysuitabl'e portion .o'f the traetonsuchasalug or *bracket #28 secured inunediately adjacent the operators "seat 311, in convenient ,piosition or manipulation or the trip rope h nperatorsas desired. its so Ifar .described, .this assembly 6f conventional 'an'dknown design and in itself constitutes no part of our invention.

with terminal eyes 58 and 60 It frequently occurs that when the tongue I6 is uncoupled from the drawbar I2 of the tractor, the operator forgets to disengage the trip rope 26 from its fastening upon the bracket 28, whereby, when the tractor is moved away, the trip rope is frequently broken. To overcome this undesirable misadventure, a safety release mechanism, indicated generally by the numeral 32, is interposed between the trip rope26 and the bracket 28 of th tractor, and it is further contemplated and intended that means shall be provided for maintaining a constant tension upon the trip rope 26 during normal operation of the tractor.

For this purpose, the safety release device 32, whose construction is to be later set forth, is swivelly connected to a pulley 34 by means of an eye 36 thereon, and the trip rope 26 is entrained over this pulley, and is provided with a weight 38 at its free end, this weight serving to provide and maintain a constant tension upon the trip rope.

As shown best in Figure 2, the Weight 38 is provided with a recess 40 in its upper surface, which recess is preferably provided with perpendicular horizontal and vertical walls 42 and 44, respectively. The end of the trip rope extends into the recess 40, and is suitably attached to the weight therein, .as by a knot or the like.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 3-6, attention is directed to the construction of the safety release device. This may conveniently comprise a snap fastener consisting of a rigid hook member46 which open hook is closed by a spring closure 48, and which hook is provided with a shank portion 50. This snap fastener is of well known and conventional design.

Rigidly' attached to the free end of the shank 50 is a transversely disposed, laterally extending hollow eye member 52. As shown more clearly in Figure 6, the eye member adjacent one end thereof is provided with a rigidly attached guide pin 54 extending generally oppositely to the shank 48 of the hook. A tension coil spring 56 is provided which are respectively swivelly attached to the eye member 52 and to the loop or eye portion 62 of an arm 64 which is perpendicularl or angularly disposed with respect to a release pin 66, the junction of the lateral portion 54 and the body of the release pin 66 constituting a loop 68 for detachably receiving andmaintaining the eye 36 supporting the pulley 34.

The length of the release pin 66 is preferably greater than the distance fromthe eye 60 of the relaxed spring 56 and the eye member 52, Whereby the release pin may be received in the eye member, as clearly indicated in Figures 2 and 5. However, when a predetermined pressure is ap plied longitudinally to the release pin 66, the latter is withdrawn from the eye member, as indicated in Figure 3, whereupon the release pin 66 swivels or pivots about its eye 62, into the position shown in Figure 4, whereupon the pulley and its eye 36 are withdrawn from their engagement with the release pin, thereby disengaging th trip rope from the tractor.

During normal operation of the tractor, the parts are in the position shown in Figures 1 and 2, and the weight 38 thus maintains an even tension upon the trip rope 26, whereby the latter is conveniently held in position for easy engagement by the driver of the tractor for actuation of the trip rope. However, should the driver inadvertently fail to disconnect the trip rope, after the tractor is uncoupled from the implement, the

4 movement of the tractor will first cause the trip rope to pass through the pulley until the weight 38 is brought into contact with the pulley, as indicated in Figure 2. It should be noted that in this position, the pulley is engaged by the outer rims of the two surfaces 42 and 44 of the cavity 40, whereby the end of the trip rope in the cavity is prevented from being pinched or abraided by contact with the pulley. Continued movement of the tractor now causes the trip rope 2b to distend the spring 56, gradually withdrawing the release pin 66 from its engagement in the eye member 52,

until the device is released.

From the foregoing, the manner of constructing and operating the device and its advantages will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary.

However, since numerous modifications and equivalents will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoing specification and accompanyin drawings, it is not intended to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, but all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to falling Within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination with a tractor having a detachable engagement with an implement, a trip rope for allowing a tool on the implement to yield when an obstacle is encountered and a portion of a tractor to which said trip rope is attached, a safety release attached to said portion and a constant tension means connecting said trip rope to said safety release, said constant tension means including a pulley member swivelled to said safety release, said trip rope being entrained over said pulley and a weight on said trip rope for maintaining an even tension on the same, said weight comprising a stop means preventing withdrawal of said trip rope from said pulley.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein, said weight has a recess in its upper edge, said rope extending into said recess for attachment to said weight, the edges of said recess comprising abutting means engageable with said pulley, said recess preventing pinching of said rope between said pulley and said weight.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said safety release comprises a snap fastener having a hooked shank with a laterally extending eye member, a guide pin rigidly carried by said eye member and disposed oppositely to said shank, a release pin having a loop for receiving said pulley member to be releasably secured, said release pin having one end receivable in said eye member, and a tension spring surrounding said guide pin and terminally secured to said eye member and the other end of said release pin.

DELMAR L. DEEMS. MAX H. WELSH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Switzerland May 2, 11938 

